Christmas Advent Calendar

My mom made Ben and I this advent calendar the year that we got married. We used to fill all 24 little pouches with a piece of candy and take turns taking the candy out of the pouch every day in December. Last year things started to change a little bit, as Drake was old enough to eat the candy, so every evening he would take the candy from the appropriate pouch and have a little Christmas treat after dinner.

Although the candy thing was fun and worked great, I really wanted to do something a little more meaningful and start a new tradition for our family. After thinking it over for a while I came up with the idea of putting a little piece of paper in each pouch. Each piece of paper has an instruction on it. Many of the instructions are geared towards some sort of Christmas activity and some of the pieces of  paper have instructions to go get a piece of candy from Momma.

I was thinking that some other people might be interested in doing something similar so I thought I would share what our pieces of paper said.

• Bake Christmas Cookies


• Bake a Birthday cake for Baby Jesus


• Go to Jolly Holiday Lights


• Drive around town and look at lights


• Pick 3 things out of your cupboard to donate


• Drink hot chocolate


• Go visit Santa


• Go to a movie with Momma


• Go to a movie with Daddy


• Read a Christmas book


• Watch a Christmas movie


• Put up Christmas decorations on the window


• Make food for the reindeer


• Get a piece of Candy

I then sat down with our calendar and first filled in all the activities making sure we had time to do them on the appropriate day. After all the activities were placed I filled in any empty spots with the 'get a piece of candy' instructions.  I am anxiously awaiting December 1st when Drake takes out the first piece of paper and finds out he gets to go to a movie with Daddy!

I am so excited for our new family tradition and a fun and meaningful way to count down the days until Jesus's Birthday!

A Thankful Mess

I walk down the stairs, my body weary after a long day of changing diapers, playing Superheros and chasing a crawling baby. I am ready to sit down and zone out in front of the TV and hang out with my husband for a bit.

As I clear the last step and my feet hit the hardwood floor I can see the disaster that awaits me-

A dishwasher that needs to unloaded and reloaded with the pile of dirt dishes.

The crumbs that need to be wiped off the table.

The dog hair that needs to be swept.

The toys that are scattered all over the living room.

The pile of laundry that sits in the laundry room waiting to be folded and put away.

The shoes and coats and bags that need organized as they  were thrown in haste as we came inside.

Mess upon mess that needs my attention. I start to feel overwhelmed and anxious about all that needs to be done.

Why does my house always have to be such a mess? I think as I decide what to tackle first.

Then it hits me.

Hard.

My house is a mess because it is filled with kids. Kids who I desperately wanted. Kids I dreamed about. Kids I prayed for. Kids that I am beyond thankful for.

The dishes? They were used to feed my two hungry boys.

The crumbs? They are a reminder that we have way more food than we will ever eat.

The dog hair? It is a sign that a very loved dog and kind companion to my kids lives here.

The toys? They are reminders of the fun we had playing with those toys and the memories that were made in the process.

The laundry? We are never worried about being hot or cold or not dressed for the occasion because we have so many clothes to choice from to clothe us all.

The shoes by the back door? A sign that we have a big backyard and a wonderful neighborhood where my boys get to grow up.

Those messes? Well, those messes are a sign of all the blessings and answered prayers and amazing gifts we have in our life.

Those messes represent Drake.

Those messes represent Charlie.

So for now I think I will just slowly walk around the house picking up the mess with a smile on my face as I think about how thankful I really am to be able to clean up the mess. The thankful mess.

Charlie at 8 Months

• 
  
  Charlie is crawling all over the place! I love watching him set his sight on something and go after it as fast as he can.


• 
  
  Playing on the floor with his toys and his brother is his favorite thing to do. He can easily play and crawl around on the floor for a good hour without getting bored!


• 
  
  Charlie still gets up 1 time a night to eat. He usually only takes a half-hour to eat and then is sound asleep again. We keep saying that we need to break the habit, but I secretly love the middle of the night cuddles.


• 
  
  He has taken much more of an interest in solid foods this month and prefers a bowl of oatmeal and fruit to a bottle. We have also started giving him puffs and yogurt melts.


• 
  
  Charlie is also called Char-Char, Chawee, Charlie Bear, Bigs, Biggie and sometimes I hear Drake calling him Chuckie (Thanks Aunt Ellie and Aunt Meggie for that)!


• 
  
  Mr. Charlie loves his bath and causes all involved to get a little wet with his splashes.


• 
  
  His hair has come in so much thicker and is pure blonde. He is so very cute (not like I am biased or anything) with his huge bright blue eyes and blonde hair.

Charlie-We thank God everyday for picking us to be your family. You always have that adorable little smile on your face and can often be found giggling on the floor with your brother. You hardly ever cry and even if you do as soon as you are picked up, fed, or changed, all is well again. We love you so very much sweet boy. Happy 8 Months to you!

Decorating for Christmas with Kids

I L.O.V.E. decorating my house for Christmas. With that being said, the way that I decorate and where I have placed things has changed a lot since I've had kids. For example, we decided not to put up our big Christmas tree this year since Charlie is a speed crawler and silently gets into everything. Also? Take a moment to look at the following picture....

This happened last year. I kid you not our tree had been up for 20 minutes when I heard a giant crash. When I asked Drake what happened he said that he pushed the chair over to the tree to try  and get an ornament off which resulted in this giant mess. So, we opted to do a more 'kid friendly' tree and decoration set-up this year.

In our lower living room I set up a table with Drake's Little People Nativity set, his Santa train and his sleigh set. To the left of the table I filled a big basket with all of our Christmas books and movies for easy browsing. In the corner I plugged in the fun Santa Nightlight to give a little more light to the Christmas set-up.

Right next to the Little People toys we set up a small Christmas tree that has ornaments that are either stuffed or are OK for Drake to play with and safe for Charlie. Next to the tree we placed our wooden sleigh and filled it with all plush Christmas characters. This has been a huge hit! Behind the sleigh is our Christmas count-down calendar that my Mom made for us. This year we plan on filling it with little pieces of paper that will instruct Drake to come get a piece of candy from us, make Christmas cookies that night, go look at Christmas lights, etc. I can't wait to get started!

Of course, I have other Christmas decorations up as well (post and pictures to follow next week), but having specific place for Christmas stuff that Drake can touch and play with has totally cut down on him touching all of my decorations that he should not be playing with. We had a great time decorating together and Drake and Charlie love their little Christmas corner.

One last note- If you are thinking of buying any of the above Little People sets , I can't recommend the Nativity set enough. It is so cute and such a great way to teach your kids about the Christmas Story. Drake knows who Baby Jesus is and I can often hear him playing with him (even though sometimes that play includes Batman coming to rescue Baby Jesus) and talking about him. Just thought I would pass on that little tip.

Treat

How cool would it be if you could personalize a greeting card online to your favorite person and have it mailed straight to them? I love the idea and thanks to Treat (Shutterfly’s exciting new greeting card brand) you can!

Your holiday checklist just got shorter. Create and send a totally personalized greeting card from Treat for FREE. Whether saying thanks for Thanksgiving, wishing a best friend a holiday birthday, or simply sharing the holiday cheer with a just because card, Treat lets you create a one-of-a-kind card that is sure to impress.

Kindness

I often think about the kind of people I want my boys to be.

Honest.

Authentic.

Polite.

Generous.

Trustworthy.

Kind.

All of those traits listed above are important to me, but if I had to teach my boys one thing it would be kindness. To treat others the way that you want to be treated. To be kind even when others are not. To stick up for the underdog. That words can hurt or heal.

Ben and I try our best to model this behavior for them believing that we should lead by example. We talk with Drake about how he should be kind to his friends and his brother. That he needs to be careful of the words he chooses and that a hug can make somebody's day.

That is why these past few weeks have been eye-opening for me. I have never seen so many unkind, vicious, and hurtful things said as I have in the weeks leading up to and the week following the election. Words that are said with the protection of a screen between you and the person you attack. Words that hurt. Words that are unkind.

And then I read story after story of the acts of kindness that are taking place in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The people who have traveled far to lend a helping hand. The boxes of food that have been donated to feed the hungry. The people who have opened up their homes to their neighbors to charge their electronics. Pure and perfect kindness.

Just like everything else in life, kindness is a decision. A decision that I hope that my boys don't even think twice about. Because they know kindness is the right choice and they just do it.

Win a Hallmark Recordable Storybook and Tickets to Disney on Ice

You know what is big at our house? Superheros. You know what else is popular? Books. You can see where I'm going with this right? Combine the two and a certain little boy could not be happier! And that is just what Hallmark did!

A few weeks ago we received “You’re a Hero! All the Ways You Save the Day." Recordable Storybook from Hallmark. From the second it came out of the box it became Drake's new favorite book.  I have to be honest with you, I have not even had a chance to sneak the book away from Drake long enough to record the story myself. However, this has not been a problem as it already comes prerecorded.  Drake thinks it is the coolest thing ever to have the pages start reading to you every time you turn the page and I often hear him 'reading' along with the book after I put him to bed. I do plan on recording myself reading the story soon, as I think Drake's little mind would just explode with excitement to have the book personalized with his name as I read it!

Short on Time, Long on Thoughts

I feel like October passed me by in a whirlwind. Between being busy at work, a newly crawling baby and the excitement and fun over Halloween-this month was over before I felt like it even started!

Here are a few things that are on my mind right now-

• The blog has been a but heavy on sponsored posts and giveaways the last few months and I am aware that is not something everybody loves. I get that, I really do. With that being said, this blog has provided my family both financial benefits as well as opportunities and experiences we otherwise would not have had. So for the time being there will continue to be sponsored posts and giveaways even if some of the motivation behind it is a bit selfish.

• I just baby-proofed my house big time. Mr. Charlie is crawling and pulling up and exploring like crazy so the time has come to go through all the toys and put stuff up for the time being.

• Speaking if crawling- Drake seems to be enjoying his brother so much more since he has become mobile. They play and giggle and wrestle and just have fun together. It makes my heart so happy!

• I have been on a huge decluttering spree this past year and it has felt so good! I can't even tell you how freeing it is to get rid of things and live a simpler life. In anticipation of Christmas, I have been selling and donating toys to free up space. I will do a future post on how we changed the way we bought Christmas gifts a few years ago and how much we love it.

 Hope you all have a good week!

Voting for Three

I feel like I am in a different position this election year than I was in the 2008 election.

You see, in 2008 my vote was for myself only - my beliefs, my opinions, and my views.

In 2012 my vote is for three people.

My vote is for the future generation of our country.

My vote has hopes and dreams behind it.

Dreams of educational opportunities.

Dreams of great jobs.

Hopes of the kind of husbands I want them to be.

Hopes that they will treat all people with respect and equality.

So on Tuesday morning as I enter my polling place, I will proudly fill out the ballot carefully filling in the circles of the people who I believe will make my one vote count, not just for me, but for the 2 little boys that I want this country to be just a little bit better for.